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Chelsea Welch, the waitress, wrote in an email to Yahoo News that the pastor (who has since been identified as Alois Bell) told Welch's manager at the St. Louis-area Applebee's that the ensuing firestorm had "ruined" her reputation.

"I give God 10%," Bell wrote on the receipt, scratching out the automatic tip and scribbling in an emphatic "0" where the additional tip would be. "Why do you get 18?" (There were more than eight people in Bell's party, triggering the auto-tip.)

Welch, who snapped a photo of the bill from a fellow server and uploaded to Reddit, defended her right to post the receipt. "I thought the note was insulting, but also comical," she told Consumerist.com. "And I thought other users would find it entertaining.ā

Bell, a pastor at Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries Church, was not amused, and she called Welch's manager to complain.

ā[It was] a lapse in my character and judgment,ā Bell told the Smoking Gun, adding she did not expect her easily recognizable signature would be, as her friend informed her, āall over Yahoo. You went viral!ā

A spokesman for Applebeeās said it apologized to Bell for violating her "right to privacy" and confirmed that Welch āis no longer employed by the franchise."

Welch was surprised that Applebee's fired her, "especially because there was nothing specific in the employee handbook admonishing this behavior."

"I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone. I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting," she said. āI come home exhausted, sore, burnt, dirty and blistered on a good day. And after all that, I can be fired for āembarrassingā someone who directly insults their server on religious grounds.ā

Welch also isn't buying Bell's embarrassment. āIf this person wrote the note, obviously they wanted it seen by someone," she said. āIāve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time Iāve seen the Big Man used as reasoning."

Have you seen this story going around? Let me start of by saying the waitress probably shouldn't have posted this on the interenet but this lady was just ridiculous!! What are your thoughts?

Not only did she write that but she crossed out the automatic tip. And wrote the total without it. I don't know how it works and if it automatically would be taken out but I agree she didn't have to write that.

Quoting frndlyfn:

I think she could have blanked out actual signature but that is just rude of the person to write that on there. You just put 0 in the additional space and leave it at that.

Well that pastor is just an a-hole. There's no rule saying that you can only give 10% to God...it's a suggested starting point, so her arguement is totally invalid. And if that's how she feels, she should prepare her own damn food.

However, I think the auto gratuity is ridiculous. A tip is earned and while I would never not tip, the amount should be left to the diner's discretion.

Oops i missed that part. She is an embarrassment to the church she is supposed to serve. Not a good role model at all for the members to emulate. I cant remember how the auto tip amount works anymore.

Quoting kayandjsmom:

Not only did she write that but she crossed out the automatic tip. And wrote the total without it. I don't know how it works and if it automatically would be taken out but I agree she didn't have to write that.

Quoting frndlyfn:

I think she could have blanked out actual signature but that is just rude of the person to write that on there. You just put 0 in the additional space and leave it at that.

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